The use is known of containers made of polymeric material for the packaging of one or more doses of fluid products, e.g. pastes, gel or liquids; depending on the number of doses, the known containers can be single-dose or re-closable and multi-dose type.
Generally, they comprise a containment body of a preset dose of product, with a substantially tubular and elongated shape, which has an extremity with a neck, at the top of which is defined a dispensing mouth for the product.
The opposite extremity of the containment body has an opening suitable for the introduction of the product, which is closed when filled, e.g., by sealing/welding.
Closing means, associable in a removable way with the container in correspondence to the neck, allow for the obstruction of the dispensing mouth. The containment body and the closing means can be made separately, by means of forming techniques such as injection moulding and then assembled together or, alternatively, can be made in a single body piece and then separated before use by a user.
The containment body has also a pair of fins which are suitable for make the gripping of the container easier by a user and which extend, on diametrically opposite sides, from the outer lateral surface of the containment body itself.
The known containers can be manufactured in single units or associated with one another in series (strip); in the latter case the fins of the containment bodies of two consecutive containers are temporarily associated with one another in correspondence to preset pre-breaking lines.
With particular reference to the closing means and their conformation depending on the different methods of use and manufacture, different types of container are known.
A first type of known containers foresees, e.g., the use of a hood having a portion fastened to the neck, during the moulding phase and along preset breaking areas, to obstruct the dispensing mouth.
The hood also comprises a recess suitable for housing the neck of the container, having a shutter element for shutting the dispensing mouth, and initially turned outwards, opposite the portion initially fastened to the neck.
The container is opened for the first time by removing the hood from the dispensing mouth in correspondence to the breaking areas and, following the use of the product, the container is re-closed by overturning the hood and fitting the neck into the recess, and through the positioning of the shutter element inside the dispensing mouth.
The particular shape of the hood leads however to the possible exposure of the recess and shutter element to external polluting agents before the first use of the container, not ensuring therefore the integrity of the product during next uses.
To reduce the possibility of product contamination, a second type of re-closable containers is known, made in a single body piece, which comprise closing means having a shutter element, of the pin type or the like, fitted sealed inside the dispensing mouth, and deformable or breakable elements which connect, without interruption, the closing means to the container body.
Such deformable or breakable elements are suitable for informing the user about the possible presence of product contamination due to any tampering and/or accidental opening of the product, having therefore a function of safety seals.
From document GB 1 446 300 a third type of containers is also known, wherein the closing means and the containment body are made in separate pieces, and assembled together afterwards.
The closing means of such containers consist of a cylindrical hollow body inside which are obtained a shutter element, of the type of a pin or the like, which can be fitted sealed inside the dispensing mouth, and an annular collar which can be fastened by interlocking on the neck of the containment body.
The annular collar is associated in a removable way in correspondence to the inner surface of the cylindrical plug by means of a suitable weakened area, made up, e.g. of pre-breaking lines, breakable bridges, reduced cross sections or the like.
The cylindrical plug, the annular collar and the pin are therefore made in a single body piece, separately from the containment body, and the collar is subsequently fastened to the neck by interlocking with closure of the dispensing mouth by means of the pin.
A simplified and much easier version of such third type of container for manufacturing purposes is shown in the document EP 1 289 842.
This document, in actual facts, illustrates the use of a re-closable container wherein the containment body and the closing means are still made in two separate pieces, but with the difference that the cylindrical plug is replaced by a flat-plane gripping element supporting the shutter pin and the annular collar.
The container shown in EP 1 289 842 is also susceptible to further upgrading.
In this respect the fact is underlined that, during use, the user opens the container by removing the shutter pin and seizing the flat-plane element and, to handle the containment body in a practical and easy way during the dispensing of the fluid product, usually puts the flat-plane gripping element temporarily on a supporting surface (a shelf, a table, the edge of a washbasin, etc.).
Once the operation is finished, the flat-plane gripping element is fitted again into the dispensing mouth to close the container.
During the resting phase on the supporting surface, however, the shutter pin enters inevitably into contact with the surface itself, with the risk of being contaminated by microbes and bacteria and, once fitted in the dispensing mouth, of contaminating also the remaining fluid product in the container, which is intended for subsequent uses.
Such circumstance occurs because the flat-plane gripping element has a particularly reduced thickness, to allow the injection moulding in a practical and cheap way, and can be laid on the supporting surface only horizontally, with the shutter pin which inconveniently touches the supporting surface.